Our Alpaca Hike

After our trip to Peru we were always a little bit fascinated by alpacas and therefore we also looked where there are alpacas in Germany. Some we could find in nearby zoos or animal parks… but we also learned that here and there alpaca walks are offered – but unfortunately mostly further away, so it was difficult to plan a date for it. One day Nathalie noticed during her jogging trip that a farm called “Erlebnishof Weimar”, which she passes by, advertises alpaca walks with them. So we took one of the last weekends in September, when the weather was still good, and invited Christopher and Marie, so that the four of us could go for a hike with the alpacas in the evening.

When we arrived at the farm, we could first take a look at all the animals. There were several horses, chickens, pigs, rabbits, dogs, donkeys and of course alpacas. One donkey was especially worth mentioning, which belongs to the Poitou donkey species, the largest donkey species in the world.

After a short introduction to the alpacas, each of us got one of the animals with the leash on the hand. But there were 4 alpacas and 1 white llama, which was a little bit bigger than his relatives. Christopher was allowed to take the llama on the leash, while the rest of us got one of the animals from the alpaca family. The hike started at the edge of a more or less busy road and then led into the fields between Oberweimar and Taubach. Here we went with the animals to the banks of the river Ilm, where they started to play and jump in the water. Afterwards we walked across a meadow back to the farm.

When we arrived in the yard Nathalie and I asked if we could still get our alpaca driving license. This is an option that is offered by the operators after completing such a tour. The test consisted of 10 questions ranging from very easy (like “Where do alpacas come from?”) to quite difficult (like “What exact types of alpacas are kept in Germany?”). In the end we were able to answer most of the questions correctly and we got our certificates and driver’s licenses issued… which we are very proud of!